The company’s Australian motorsport manager, Jeff Fisher, has subsequently flagged interest in running a wildcard entry at Bathurst as part of the program.

Although the timing of the October race would rule out any Australian competition participants racing the V8 Supercar, Academy mainstay Alex Buncombe and past winners such as Lucas Ordonez could be in the frame for a seat.

Fisher is adamant that a wildcard is a realistic proposition for this year.

“I look at these things and think, if you want to have a go at it, you should do it now rather than put it off for 18 months and have that long gestation period,” Fisher told Speedcafe.com

“We looked at what Triple Eight did with Microsoft last year and thought that was very worthwhile in terms of the traction they got with that from the team’s side and from xBox and Microsoft.

“To their credit the Microsoft people activated really well and backed it with a lot of other collateral and didn’t just do the car and leave it there.”

The wildcard plan has been discussed at top level with the scheme confirmed by Nissan Australia managing director and chief executive Peter Jones.